There are fewer pediatric ophthalmologists in the areas of the United States where they are needed the most, according to a study published recently in JAMA Ophthalmology. Most of the 10,56 U.S. pediatric ophthalmologists identified by this research had practices in metropolitan areas or around academic institutions.
“We can conclude that rural populations disproportionately lack access to such care, which can impact the time to diagnosis, treatment, and management of complications of serious ophthalmological diagnoses in children,” investigators wrote.
Investigators, led by Hannah L. Walsh, BS, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, analyzed public databases from the American Academy of Ophthalmology and American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus to identify pediatric ophthalmologists as of March 2022. They identified a total of 1,056 pediatric ophthalmologists in the United States. Using the 2020 U.S. Census population estimates, investigators found there was one pediatric ophthalmologist per 3.2 million people in the United States.
The states with the most pediatric ophthalmologists include California, New York, Florida and Texas. But four of the 50 states did not have any pediatric ophthalmologists, and 90% of counties throughout the United States did not have a pediatric ophthalmologist. Researchers found that counties with one or more pediatric ophthalmologists had higher median household income compared with counties with no pediatric ophthalmologists. In the 314 counties with at least one pediatric ophthalmologist, there was a median of one pediatric ophthalmologist per 7.7 million people.